This wonderful review of All Year Round recently appeared on the blog adventureswithmonster, and as ever we are very grateful for the enthusiasm!
This week we received another lovely package from our friends at Hawthorn Press. Inside were two beautiful books, the first of which I am happy to share our review of today…
All Year Round is a fantastic resource for families with young children, particularly those following a Steiner/Waldorf approach, and for those who wish to find out more about festivals and traditions and find inspiration from the plentiful craft suggestions.
I am busy putting together plans for our winter festivals and crafts and so I am beginning with the winter portion of the book……
We have a couple of the other titles in the Festival Series and I am always delighted by the illustrations and little verses included for each season. These illustrations are evident throughout the book, depicting seasonal treasures and craft instruction visuals.
The chapter begins by talking about winter, which really sets the mood. This magical introduction is followed by a list sharing a selection of winter festivals and their dates (this list is not exhaustive, there are many other winter festivals and the book deals with those personally chosen by the authors) and some ideas for creating a winter seasonal table.
The authors then lead us through the selected festivals and celebrations, sharing their origins and talking about the ‘mood’ of each one. There are then plentiful suggestions for crafts and activities offered, suitable for families, adults, children and groups of children. There are some really beautiful suggestions here! There are also ideas given for putting on little family shows, along with verses and the words and music provided for some seasonal singing.
We are delighted with this book, I particularly enjoyed the portions detailing the origins of the festivals and celebrations,I have learned a great deal through reading about, for example, the origins of Father Christmas and Santa Claus, something we are really thinking about this year as we work to keep that sense of magic and wonder without becoming confused by commercialism and unnecessary embelishments. There is much scope here for putting your own family’s stamp on such festivals…
We will be sharing some winter activity ideas at our home ed groups, as well as getting stuck in to some seasonal crafting at home, why not try some with your family this winter?
Buy the book here…
Read the review on the Adventureswithmonster blog here…
